The thick extruded closed cell foam in the Marine Ultra will keep whatever sodas, water bottles, beer, or snacks you keep inside cold for the entire day. This also makes the cooler reliable for days at the office when you want to have your lunch outside when the sun is out. Whatever cooler brand you trust should be able to provide items that can satisfy you in any situation. We’ve tested Polar Bear coolers for seven years now, buying them or receiving test units from Polar Bear. Recently, however, we’ve been let down by the lifespan of its soft coolers (though not this backpack in particular). But with care, you can extend the lifespan of any soft cooler—the number one rule seems to be not to leave it out in the sun.
If we had to generalize it, we would say that you should expect to get approximately half of the claimed ice retention time in real-world use, give or take a bit depending on your specific circumstances. REI has a knack for balancing performance and affordability, and their Cool Haul 24 is no exception. Like much of its soft-sided competition, the REI bag also includes daisy-chain webbing for securing extra gear, as well as a handy bottle opener. And because the Cool Haul’s inner insulated box can be separated from the outer shell, cleaning is a snap (the shell can also be used without the liner as a tote).
For the ultimate in portability, backpack-style coolers are the clear winners. And many of these bags, including Hydro Flask’s 20 L Day Escape, share a lot in common with regular daypacks. Other highlights include a waterproof exterior that stands up well to rough use and outer lash points for strapping to a kayak or boat.
Importantly, not all coolers measure interior capacity in the same way. Some use cans as a unit of measure, while others use liters, quarts, or gallons. That said, “cans” is the igloo trailmate most commonly used measurement for soft coolers (hard-sided models are generally listed in quarts), and we’ve utilized that spec throughout this article whenever available.
Whether it’s beer for game night or desserts for a follow up to pizza, the night will end with delicious meals. Once again, everyday use is the focus for this section of Igloo’s offerings. If you plan on staying out in the woods for more than a day, then be prepared to carry extra packs of ice, as well as more than one of these coolers so that you enjoy tasty meals. And 1.2 lbs., while the Cool Fusion 36, which provides more space, weighs 6.4 lbs. The locking and telescoping handles make sure that users have a tight grip when carrying the cooler.
Unlike most of the other models, the Coleman Xtreme has a channeled drain, which made draining much easier and required very little tilting on our part. While they’re not standardized measures, we have found that most cooler companies’ estimates of their cooling power are reasonably helpful for rough comparison. A soft cooler that claims 24-hour ice retention is usually lighter duty than one that claims three days or more. You igloo water cooler should never consider these numbers as performance guarantees, but as a crude spec to gauge where a cooler stands within the category, I find the estimates useful. High-performance hard coolers from brands such as Yeti have raised the bar for what consumers expect (and what they expect to pay) from coolers. That shift has spilled over into the soft cooler category and has pushed quality soft coolers’ performance (and price).